


Let The Darkness Swallow It All

by ChristineThalassinou1990



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assassin!Elrond, Crossover, Dark Brotherhood (Elder Scrolls) - Freeform, Dark!Elrond, Gen, OOC Elrond, The Author Regrets Nothing, Ulfric Had It Coming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:08:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27766525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChristineThalassinou1990/pseuds/ChristineThalassinou1990
Summary: The journey to Valinor ends in a complete disaster when Elrond and the others get shipwrecked on Soltsheim.Fast forward twenty years, and Elrond is the most promising - and most dangerous - assassin of the Dark Brotherhood, tasked with killing none else than Ulfric Stormcloak.
Kudos: 3





	Let The Darkness Swallow It All

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest, I don't know why I had this idea, but I had, and it didn't leave me alone. However, the mental image of a Dark Brotherhood assassin Elrond does please me on so many levels, so I have absolutely no regrets writing this.  
> And Ulfric is a racist dick, he absolutely had it coming.

"Why don't we just get a stranger and murder him? After all, practice does make perfect" the translucent companion purred, much to the assassin's amusement.

"You're such a sick fuck, Lucien... But I guess that's why I like you" Elrond chuckled, a cold smirk hiding in the corner of his mouth.

 _And not that I'm not a sick fuck myself, anyway_ , he thought as they were walking in a comfortable pace toward the Falkreath Sanctuary.

The journey to Valinor ended in a complete disaster, but Elrond, knowing his luck, wasn't even shocked anymore. The ship he and the others were travelling on got shipwrecked on the shores of Solstheim. The two hobbits didn't survive the ordeal, and the elves and the wizard could barely escape with their lives, too.

It happened almost twenty years ago, and Elrond had little memory of it by now. He remembered that Gandalf decided to stay in the Skaal village on Solstheim, it seemed he enjoyed himself there, and Galadriel got completely lost, no one heard about her again after the accident. Honestly, Elrond didn't miss her at all. The third elf, Círdan, accompanied Elrond for a while on his travels all the way across Skyrim, right up to the point when he found a suitable job at the East Empire Company in Solitude, about ten years ago. Since then, Elrond hadn't heard from him, and probably that was for the best.

The elf wasn't fine to begin with, and the fact that his last hope for making his life more or less right again went doomed with their wrecked ship just pushed him further down on a slippery slope to lose himself completely. Perhaps it was always in him, this darkness that threatened to consume him more and more, he didn't know, but he couldn't deny that he'd sunk very low from his earlier benevolent Lord of Rivendell persona. Now, he was Skyrim's, or most likely Tamriel's, most dangerous Dark Brotherhood assassin.

It wasn't as hard as he thought it would be, not even for the first time. Long before he ended up on that strange continent, Elrond guessed he was damaged far beyond repair. He'd lost too much to care anymore; and that's what Astrid saw in him, the perfect killer material, without any regrets or remorse. She took him in, trained him to be a lethal weapon, then let him loose on the completely unsuspecting province of Skyrim. And the people of Skyrim learnt to fear the Brotherhood again.

"Welcome home, dear brother" Astrid greeted him with a calculating glint in her eyes when he entered the Sanctuary and neared her desk. "I hope your mission was a success?"

Elrond's only answer was a patronizing half-smile. His spectral companion, Lucien Lachance, waited silently a few steps behind. The ghost belonged to the Brotherhood, Lucien himself was a Speaker in his life, and now he chose to serve Elrond. No one dared question his decision, Lucien was always picky about his masters, and there was no way to force him to obey. It was the best for everybody to let him decide.

"Good" Astrid nodded, getting the message in the elf's smile. "And you've arrived just in time to receive a new task. Something that definitely fits your... unique abilities."

"Oh" was all Elrond said, waiting for Astrid to continue; and she did.

"Your next target is Ulfric Stormcloak, the Jarl of Windhelm. Someone really doesn't want our dear Jarl to cause any more trouble..."

That prompted a surprised reaction even from Elrond. He'd lived in Skyrim long enough to know that such high-level of a contract was rare, even for the Brotherhood.

"Trying to prevent the impending civil war, I assume. Leaving that racist prick alive any longer can very well be leading to that" he muttered.

"You might be right, brother... but what does it matter? You have your contract, I suggest you to get it done."

"With pleasure" Elrond said with a mocking bow, then turned around and left, with Lucien on his heels.

"She fears you. Fears your power" Lucien mused; Elrond knew that his ghostly companion wasn't too fond of their Sanctuary leader.

"She has nothing to fear about, I'm not going to murder her. Well, not unless she gives me a very good reason to do so" Elrond shrugged, getting on his horse. "Come, Lucien, we have a Jarl to murder."

*

Getting into Windhelm was not as easy as it seemed at first. For one, Windhelm was the most hostile place for an elf to be, and even though Elrond could pass as a human as long as his ears weren't visible, he still felt offended on his race-mates' behalf. An elf was an elf, here or in Middle-Earth, and Elrond hated racists anyway. He definitely wasn't one: he killed anyone, regardless of their race.

"Welcome to Windhelm" the guard at the gate said without the slightest of enthusiasm, after checking the elf's, of course forged, documents.

Elrond didn't even answer.

Windhelm wasn't a nice city by any means. Its streets were narrow and rundown, as were the buildings. Everything seemed grey, dull, old, and neglected, and even the people looked like they hated everything about this place. Elrond couldn't really blame them, he'd just entered Windhelm but he wanted to leave already.

"How long are we staying here?" Lucien asked; he apparently shared his master's sentiment.

"I'll do it tonight" Elrond muttered; there was no one nearby, and Lucien was invisible to everyone but him right now, still, he didn't want to chat with the ghost more than absolutely necessary. "Now be quiet and go, do some scout work for me, please."

Lucien obeyed, heading toward the Palace of the Kings, meanwhile, Elrond took a walk in the city, searching for possible escape routes if things were to go sour. He was good and he knew it, but he knew as well that he was neither infallible nor invincible, so he wanted to be better safe than sorry. The most promising way to escape were the docks, he could simply steal a ship or threat some sailor to help him.

Relieved that he had his means of getting out of here, Elrond walked back to the tavern to have a meal and a few hours of rest before doing the job.

*

Midnight found Elrond and Lucien on the second floor of the Palace. The elf used the roof and an unguarded window to get into the building, making good use of Lucien's information he managed to gather during the afternoon.

"If you can get it done quickly and quietly, you can leave the way you came" the spectral companion said when Elrond crawled inside.

"Don't worry, that's my goal. Where's the target?" He wasn't even willing to call Ulfric by his name, that asshole didn't deserve it.

"In his quarters, not far from here. Let me lead you there."

Elrond cast an invisibility spell, just to be sure that no one will see him, and sneaked after Lucien, who led him to a two-winged wooden door. It was closed, but after his companion reported that no one was behind it, the elf opened it and slipped inside. They were in a moderate-sized antechamber that led to Ulfric's bedroom. At the bedroom door, there were two guards. They looked sleepy, and Elrond thought about taking them out, but he didn't want to leave too big of a mess in the Palace.

"Create a distraction" he muttered to Lucien, who just grinned and did as he was told.

Soon, the two guards were chasing the strange noises downstairs, leaving an empty path for Elrond. The elf was at the door in an instant, slowly opening it, trying to make as little noise as possible. Warriors like Ulfric tended to be light sleepers.

Fortunately, the Nord didn't wake up, however, he stirred some in his sleep. Elrond unsheathed his dagger and took a step closer to the bed, so he could have a better angle for the strike, but in that moment, Ulfric did wake up, taking in the situation in a split second. The next thing Elrond knew was a blade aimed at his guts and almost running him through.

He managed to avoid the thrust in the last possible moment, but Ulfric could still catch him, leaving a painful cut on his side. It wasn't too deep, but it was bleeding pretty badly. Out of pure reflex, Elrond cast a healing spell, meanwhile trying to stay out of the Jarl's reach.

"You're cunning, I grant you that" Ulfric said, measuring up the intruder. "Getting this far must've required much planning. But other than that, you're a spineless little bastard. A coward. And you'll die like a coward."

Ulfric charged at the backtracking elf, sword rose high, not minding for a minute that his only protection was the linen leggings he wore for sleeping. Elrond ducked under the swinging blade, risking a cut at the Nord's knee, but Ulfric turned and kicked the elf hard in the stomach. Elrond gasped for air as he stumbled backward, barely avoiding decapitation in the process. It wasn't going well at all.

 _Where's Lucien?_ , he thought as he jumped sideway in the desperate attempt to create some space between himself and Ulfric.

The Nord seemed confident in his victory, he wasn't in a hurry as he followed Elrond, obviously trying to lead him into a cornered space to kill him. The elf realized that and as he jumped forward to avoid Ulfric's sword, he cast an invisibility spell as well. As he hoped, it confused Ulfric and he slashed blindly in the direction he last saw the elf; but Elrond was already behind his back, grabbing his blonde mane, pulling his head back and slicing his throat with one swift movement.

"The elves send their regards" he hissed as he let the body drop to the floor with a loud thud.

He knew that he had no time to waste; Lucien would find him later, he always did. So Elrond headed back to the window as quickly as possible. He had to get out of here before the guards would discover the murder.

"There you are!" Lucien greeted him on the rooftop; so he decided to wait it out instead. "I take it you were successful" he continued, noticing the blood on his hand.

"We don't have time to chat. Let's go!" Elrond muttered, and soon, the darkness of the moonless night swallowed both of them; perhaps in more ways than one.

**The End**


End file.
